Asia

Addressing a meeting with cabinet members, U.S President Donald Trump once again exposed his obvious hypocrisy. While the American president expressed his desire to visit Pakistan and meet Prime Minister Imran, he considered it essential to blast Islamabad for housing the “enemy”. According to Trump, Pakistan was not fair to Washington which made him end the 1.3 billion dollars that the US was sending Pakistan. Ironically at the same time, he wanted to start peace talks with the Afghan Taliban and wanted to have a meeting with Pakistan regarding the matter. American Senator Lindsay Graham told CNN in an interview that if Islamabad was successful in helping the US negotiate with Taliban, the U.S would offer Pakistan a free trade agreement. Donald Trump had also recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan in requesting for his help in order to negotiate with the Taliban. Strangely, a month prior to that the US president did not forget to blame Pakistan in an interview with Fox News, a channel highly supportive of the Trump administration.

The only thing that can be expected from the current administration in Washington is one thing; hypocrisy. Pakistan should not act in a neutral manner nor maintain a positive tone but always should be on guard and take full advantage of its ties with China in order to be firm with the U.S. It is pretty clear that despite constant reminders, the US does not really acknowledge the many deaths that took place in Pakistan due to the war on terror and instead is putting its frustration of losing the war on Islamabad. The U.S influence in South Asia is weakening day by day. Pakistan’s new leadership has rightfully made it clear that it will no longer be a punching bag. Despite different methods and for different reasons both countries are on the same page when it comes to resolving the conflict in Afghanistan. However, the problem is that Pakistan and the US don’t understand that it is not their burden to bear anymore. The issues in Afghanistan and how to deal with it should be the responsibility of the Afghan government and its people. Pakistan should focus on its own borders and try to look at the problems in Kabul from a lens because as a neighboring country, it might have some impact on Islamabad. The Trump administration may act confused and they have made it obvious but some smart leadership elements of the U.S have realized that Afghanistan is out of their hands and now it’s time to fund militants and cause chaos in some new country for resources.

A White House correspondent suspended, a Saudi journalist killed and four Pakistani leftist speakers barred from speaking at event dedicated to a leftist great. Aside from the fact that connecting the three seems like a screenplay for the next Hollywood blockbuster, it also sends a message that this is a means to curb freedom of speech or what is left of it anyway. CNN’s Jim Acosta’s press pass was temporarily barred after a verbal spatter with U.S President Donald Trump and a heavily edited video surfaced. This wasn’t much of a surprise considering the fact that Donald Trump has called the media as the enemy of the people and referred to CNN as fake news. How Trump responds to the press isn’t something to be shocked about because that unfortunately is just the way it is. No previous US president has acted this way towards the press even if they disagree with a certain media group’s rhetoric. This should serve as a lesson for the press in the US to learn something and go higher and keep asking tough questions because it is their job to bring the message to the people no matter how tough someone in a position of power acts. Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi associated with The Washington Post suffered a horrific fate in the Saudi consulate in Turkey for simply what was initially believed to marriage paperwork. A staunch critic of the Saudi government and its policies, it didn’t come as of a surprise and all fingers allegedly point to the people he criticized and the current king of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad Bin Salman. The killing of Khashoggi sent shock waves not just in Saudi Arabia, Turkey or the U.S but worldwide and it presented a lens to as how a certain regime deals with its critics but since it has the U.S ally tag and for some reason Iran is a bigger threat, it’s fine I guess. On the other hand, what Saudi critics do in their home country and abroad should be applauded because going against a brutal dictatorial regime is no easy task. I would like to highlight how important Raif Badawi here, a Saudi activist imprisoned in Saudi Arabia for being critical of the Saudi regime. Faiz Ahmed Faiz was a leftist Pakistani poet and staunch critic of the Pakistani government and state institutions at the time and since 2015 the city of Lahore holds the Faiz International Festival to honor his name. It is one of the few events in the country where an open space is given to the voices and narratives that are otherwise silenced in the mainstream sphere in Pakistan however this time around, it too was affected to subjugation as four speakers who are known to be strong critics of the Pakistani government and its state institutions were avoided from speaking at an event. Nothing is more ironic than voices being silenced at an event honoring who spoke up and wrote up about freedom of expression. It is important to add here that the organizers were not to be blamed as they were powerful against Pakistan’s powerful state institutions that are infamously known for allegedly silencing Pakistan’s open voices in the past. All three incidents point to one thing; silencing the messengers. While the institutions involved think that is a way to bring the public in a state of control and fear, it is actually the other way around. Silencing voices raises more questions rather than putting an end to debates or stops people from being critical of their governments or state institutions, it encourages them to hold protests and support social movements. The messengers in this case are also the ones putting their lives on the line as we saw in the case of Jamal Khashoggi to inform the public of their basic rights and tell them what they need to stand up for. Unfortunately for the state institutions of the U.S, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or any other if they believe that silencing critics is the only way then it should come as no surprise that certain people in a position of power are concerned about how a young strong woman with excellent leadership skills wears a nice coat and has coffee and ignore that silencing the messenger sends the message loud and clear.

Minister for Planning and Development Khusro Bakhtyar has
invited Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Chinese corporate
leaders to forge a sustainable long-term partnership with Pakistan aimed at
financing projects that contribute to overall economic growth of the country.

He extended this invitation in Beijing while meeting with
the president of AIIB Jin Liqun and leadership of various Chinese companies
including China Railway Construction Corporation, Huawei, Norinco and others on
the sideline of China Pakistan Economic Corridor’s 8th Joint Cooperation
Committee meeting scheduled to be held tomorrow in the Chinese capital.

The Minister Khusro Bakhtyar would co-chair the JCC meeting
with Vice Chairman National Reform Commission of China.

In a meeting at AIIB Headquarters, Khusro Bakhtyar said that
Pakistan has received a solid investment in energy generation portfolio, but it
is now encouraging projects based on hydel or renewable resources. He proposed
that the bank could explore opportunities of partnership in Dasu and Mohmand
Dam projects which are in the planning stage.

President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said
that projects worth 1.68 billion dollars in different sectors are being
financed by his bank in Pakistan. He vowed to support transmission line, hydel
energy generation and other projects that could support Pakistan’s economic
growth. He informed that a project to support SMEs was already approved and
this investment would be enhanced with the passage of time.

Minister said that Pakistan and China are agreed on timely
completion of CPEC ongoing projects and its future course to explore new areas
of cooperation in socio-economic development.

Khusro Bakhtyar said that a framework of cooperation in
industrial sector would be agreed with China during the JCC. It would help to
boost Pakistan’s industrial capacity through joint ventures in priority areas,
relocation of labor-intensive industry and SMEs collaboration. The Minister
said that the Rashkai Economic Zone would be implemented in the first quarter
of next year and rest eight SEZs would follow the same line.

The Minister while highlighting potential of Pakistan’s
agriculture sector said that the cooperation in this sector would promote joint
ventures, value addition, cold chain management for fruits and vegetables,
marketing and branding that will help the country to overcome its weaknesses.

Minister further intimated that Pakistan wishes to launch
projects in the transport sector with a special focus on the development of
ports, rail and roads, through a feasible financial model that may create the
least burden on Pakistan’s economy.

He said Pakistan Railways Main Line One is being offered to
investors for implementation under Built-Operate-Transfer mode.

Chinese investors showed a keen interest in the development
of transmission line, infrastructure projects including ML-1, mass transits
system and road projects.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has inaugurated the Islamabad National University at the Prime Minister House in fulfillment of the promise made after the last general elections.

Speaking at the ceremony, the prime minister said all the symbols of colonial mindset will be razed adding that the purpose of establishing a university in the PM House was to signal the need for education and human development.

“PTI government prioritizes education and the gap between the government and the public should be lessened,” Khan added.

The premier shared that the incumbent government was making the masses aware of their rights so that they can question rulers about their tax money.

Prime Minister Imran Khan asserted that Education was the top priority of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government and enough funds were being provided for higher education in the country.

Declaring that education is imperative for progress and development, the PM said no nation can make progress without quality education.

“China and Singapore made major economic development through quality education,” the PM said and added that the focus of his government was the promotion of education.

The prime minister observed that the overall standard of education would be improved.

On the occasion, Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood detailed that the educational institutions will be housed in the premises of the PM House and other departments of the university will be added over time in the grounds of the property.

“Establishing the institute and the university is a fulfilment of PM Imran Khan’s commitment to turn palatial official residences into facilities for public use,” said Mehmood.